Electric railway



(No'Mod el.)

W B POTTER ELECTRIC RAILWAY. ,No. 596,182.

Patented Dec, 28,1897.

\a/rrplcssas.

UNITED STATES YVILLIAM B. POTTER, OF SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TOTHE GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 596,182, dated December28, 1897.

A li ti fil d November l8 1896. Serial No. 612,645. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:'

Be it known that I, WILLIAM B. POTTER, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing at Schenectady, in the county of Schenectady, State ofNew York, have invented certain new'and useful Improvements in ElectricRailways, (Case No. 456,) of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to electric railways in which the energyis obtained from a third rail or conductor situated between or justoutside of the tracks and suitably insulated therefrom.

The invention has for one of its objects to provide a system in whichthe continuity of the conductor-rail is interrupted at the variousstations, crossings, or other predetermined points along the line oftravel and sectional conductors substituted therefor. These sections arenormally disconnected from the source of supply, but are rendered activeby the approaching train. The relation of the sectional conductors andthe contacts carried by the vehicle is such that only the conductordirectly under the vehicle is active. This eliminates all danger fromshocks to persons crossing the tracks at a point near the train. Itsometimes happens that it is desirable to leave a train standing at astation or siding and to interrupt the circuit between the sectionalworking conductors and the source of supply.

This invention has for one of its objects to provide means forinterrupting the circuit in such a manner that all of the sectionalworking conductors are dead and no act of a person on the train cancause them to be included in circuit again.

A further object of the invention is to arrange the circuit-closingswitches so that the station-agent has control over them. When a trainis ready to proceed, he can close the proper switch to supply current tothe section upon which the train is located.

A further object of the invention is to arrange the contact devicescarried by the train and the sectional conductors and switches in suchrelation that a train may pass through the station and receive currentfrom each section, yet after the train stops at a station and thesections are killed it cannot neer of the train.

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby theswitches between the supply-conductor and the sectional conductors maybe locked in their open position to form a block system for the train bycutting off the source of supply or locked in their closed position toestablish the continuity of the third-rail system.

In the accompanying drawings, attached to and made a part'of thisspecification, Figure l is a diagrammatic view of a third-rail systemwith normally-disconnected contact-sections at a station. Figs. 2 and 3are detail views of suitable switch mechanisms.

A indicates the rails or negative conductors connected to the generatorB.

O is the third-rail conductor and is connected to the positive side ofthe generator B.

D is the feeder-main extending along the line of travel, to which thethird rail C is connected at suitable intervals.

E, E, and E are switches adapted to connect the feeder-main D with thehigh-potential sectional conductors F F.

G G are secondary sectional conductors employed in closing the switchesE E.

I is the moving vehicle, provided in the present instance with a singlemotor J, but in practice any number may be employed.

K K are respectively high-potential'and secondary contact-shoes carriedby the vehicle and are so arranged that they will span the distancebetween the sectional conductors and also that between the sectionalconductors and the third rail C.

L is a signal-tower or other suitable building, and the structure Mshown in dotted lines represents a station extending over the track. Aconnection a extends from the condoctor 0 to one terminal of the switchL210- cated in the depot or signal-tower, as the case may be, andconnected with three separate terminals adapted to be engaged by theswitchblade are the leads 1) Z) N, connected, respec tively, to theenergizing-coils of the switches E E The switches E E" in practice aremen nted on a switchboard in the station and within easy reach of theoperator; but in the event of their being located at some distancetherefrombeside the track, for examplethe switch N may be used.

The CODtztCiJ'ShOGS K and K are connected together by means of a switch0, which may be either a separate switch or form a step in themotor-controller. As the vehicle I. progresses from right to left acircuit is established from the shoe K, switch 0, secondary contact G,and energizing-coil of switch E to negative rail A. This causes theswitch E to close, and current to the motor is supplied therefrom. Asthe vehicle progresses this action is repeated, and when the vehiclestops the switch which energizes the particular section on which thevehicle stands will maintain the closed relation due to theshuntenergizing-coil.

If it is desired to leave a train standing at a station or siding and toprevent it from being started without the knowledge of the stationagent, the switch 0 is opened, which will permit the switch or switchesenergizing the sections to open, and by no act of a person on the traincan they be closed again. It is necessary for the station agent oroperator to either close the switch to a particular section by hand orby means of the switch N. If the switch 0 forms a step in the controllerwhen the power is shut off and the train has been receiving current fromthe sectional eonductors, the switches In E IE will open, and the traincannot start until the operator again closes the switches, either byhand or by means of the switch N. lVhen the switch N is employed, thecurrent enters from the conductor 0, wire a, switch N, wire Z), andenergizing-eoil of switch E to ground. This will cause the switch E toclose, and the conductor F will receive current from the supply-main D,which will be transmitted to the motor J through the shoe K. As soon asthe vehicle I has traveled to a point where the forward portion of theshoe K touches the conductor 0 the motor will receive current therefromand proceed as in any third-rail system. If it so happens that the traincomes to a standstill over the sectional conductor F or T the switch Uis actuated so as to close the circuit through wire I) or 19 as the casemay be. Assuming that the train did not stop at this particular stationand it was desirable to receive current from each of theconductorsections, the switch 0, between the shoes K and K", would beclosed, and the operation would be as follows: A train approaching fromthe right would receive current from the conductor C, and as soon as theforward end of the shoes K and K engaged with the sectional conductors FG a shunt circuit would be formed through the switch 0 andenergizing-coil of the switch E to the negative rail A. This would closethe switch it, and current to the motor would be received from the conductor F. The same action is repeated as the vehicle progresses, therelation of the shoes and contacts being such that the circuit of theadvance section is complete before leaving the rear section.

Fig. 2 shows an enlarged detail view of the switch E, in which ablow-out magnet P is included in the circuit from the source ofsupply 1) to extinguish the are formed when the circuit interru iited.()n the right-hand end of the armature-lever is a handle 7L, pro videdwith a bolt 7L, adapted to engage with holes in the stationary piece 71.when itis desired to lock the switch in either its open or closedposition.

Fig 3 shows a further modificatirm,in which a few turns of series coilare employed in conjunction with the shunt for holding the switel i inits closed position.

In the event of its being desirable to establish the continuity of thethird-rail system and dispense with the use of the shoe K and theautomatic operation of the switches E E E the latter are closed by handand the bolts 7L shot into a hole in the piece 71?, holding them intheir closed position.

If it is desirable to block an approaching train, the switches closingthe several sections are locked in their open position by means of thebolt h engaging with a hole in the stationary piece ]L2. This preventsthe automatic operation of the switches, and the supply of currentfailing the engineer is at once informed even though he has run by hissignals.

By making the space between the parts of the conductor 0 of considerablelength the train may be made to stop of itsown accord; but ordinarilythe brakes are applied by the engineer.

\Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is-

1. In an electric railway, the combination of a third or main workingconductor connected with a source of supply, the continuity of which isinterrupted at predetermined points, a conductor-section located betweenadjacent ends of the main working conductor and insulated therefrom, amoving vehicle, a contact-shoe carried by the vehicle arranged tocomplete the circuit between the conductorsection and the source ofsupply, and means located in any convenient place, for controlling thecurrent supplied to the conductorsection irrespective of the operationof the vehicle.

2. In an electric railway, the combination of a third or main workingconductor eonnected with the source of supply, the continuity of whichis interrupted at predetermined points, a set of sectional conductorslocated between the ends of the main working conductor, switch-magnetcoils connected between the secondary sectional conductors and thereturn-circuit, and a connection extending from each switch, so arrangedthat the circuit between the source of supply and a sectional conductorcan be controlled.

3. In an electric railway, the combination of sectional conductors,switches for closing the circuit between the conductors and a source ofsupply, means carried by the moving train or vehicle for closing thesections in advance of the train, and additional means independent ofthe vehicle for closing the circuit between the sectional conductors andthe v source of supply.

4, In an electric railway, the combination of a sectional workingconductor, means carried by the moving vehicle for establishingconnectionwiththe Working conductor,means for rendering the sections ofworking conductor inactive after the power has been shut off from themotor, and means independent of the train or vehicle for closing thecircuit between the source of supply and the sectional workingconductors.

5. In an electric railway, the combination of a main working conductorconnected to a source of supply, the continuity of which is interruptedat certain points, sectional conductors substituted at the point ofinterruption, a main contact-shoe carried by the vehicle making contactwith the working and secshoe normally idle,but arranged to make contactwith the secondary conductor, and acting in conjunction with the maincontact-shoe to close the circuit between the source of supply and thesecondary conductors.

6. In an electric railway, the combination of a source of supply,sectional working conductors normally disconnected therefrom, switchesfor connecting the conductors with the source of supply, and lockingdevices for maintaining the switches in their open and closed positionirrespective of the operation of the train.

7. In an electric railway, the combination of a main working conductorconnected with the source of supply, the continuity of which isinterrupted at certain points, sectional Working conductors locatedbetween the ends of the main conductor, contact devices carried by thevehicle, switches for closing the circuit between the source of supplyand the sectional working conductors, and a lock for each switch tomaintain it in its open or closed position irrespective of the operationof the train:

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 29th day of October,1896.

WILLIAM B. POTTER.

Witnesses:

B. B. HULL, E. W. OADY.

